Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE $5.00

Even those non-bookworms among us have heard of - and great things about - Delia Owens's beautiful debut novel, Where the Crawdads Sing, promoted by everyone from Reese Witherspoon to Instagram makeup Influencers to your good friend who enjoys fishing in places similar to the book's North Carolina setting. And I most definitely understand the hype and adoration for this lyrical tribute to things, people, and places we know little about.

"Kya" - also known as "Marsh Girl" by nearby villagers - has lived in solitude deep in the North Carolina marsh, learning everything nature has to teach her, since finding herself slowly abandoned by her family and ostracized by the community, surviving and living and loving among the birds. Kya is smart and strong and creative, and though she has accepted and swiftly navigates the life she lives, as she grows into a beautiful, young woman, she wonders how the opposite must feel; to be loved, touched, and kept sacred. Where the Crawdads Sing is a highly emotional, incredibly moving, coming-of-age story, pulled along by a vague murder mystery and frosted by an intelligent courtroom drama, though - ingeniously - the two are not stand-alone stories; one cannot exist without the other.

The writing is melodic and serene, delicately painting the lush swamp and marshland with lustrous talent and intellect for this incredible, mysterious, ecosystem. In her own right, and as a result of her surroundings, Kya is sad but strong, scared yet brave, secluded yet attractive, the story moving as slowly as the marsh waters it honors, not picking up any speed until it reaches the chaotic, open ocean that becomes the murder investigation of the local popular guy, Chase Andrews. The story then slows to a gentle ending that was surprising in the way that it wasn't. Owens leads you through the story as if she were Kya gliding through the still waters, which - as we all know - run deep.

As a nature-lover myself, and as someone who wants to wander into the wild, never to be found, to dwell amongst the deer and bears and bugs of the woods, to forget my unrequited love, I was drawn to Kya's story, her determination, and her knowing enough to believe in herself. This is definitely a great read for when you have the time and are in the mood for a good, hearty tale. ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 on my goodreads profile.

The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE $3.00

I did something all us bibliophiles swear to never do but actually do with every one of our book choices and I picked The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine based solely on the cover. I was headed off on vacation, with ample amounts of pool-time in my imminent future and if there's one thing I love, it's a good theme. The cover screams "pool read," and the story requires minimal focus so you can still succumb to all of the "Mom, watch me!"s coming from your kids in the water.

Amber Patterson has a grudge. Not against anyone in particular, just whoever looks like they might be enjoying their life just a little too much. Growing up poor and forgotten, Amber has set her sights on rich, center-of-the-affluent-Universe, Daphne Parrish, in a manipulative scheme to usurp her. But what could have been a Master Class in Manipulation, turns cheap and tawdry and is more like Manipulation for the Mindless.

With insipid characters and a storyline to mimic The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, The Last Mrs. Parrish is a colossal disappointment, but the Devil is in the details. This book is painfully despicable, tasteless, disturbing, crude, and isn't so much duplicitous as it is easy and skanky. The writing is cheesy and inauthentic, and the story is overly long and drawn out and never actually reaches its synopsis, making it feel exhausting.

I didn't feel compelled to award any stars to The Last Mrs. Parrish on my goodreads profile, if you are looking for a good Domestic Noir, look elsewhere. 

The Lying Game by Ruth Ware

About a month ago, I went through a bit of a book slump which, as you know, isn't that uncommon - I see a lot of posts online about said slumps and asking for recommendations in order to relieve them. I wasn't sure what genre I was even in the mood for, much less any specific novel, and then I noticed Ruth Ware's The Lying Game on my shelf. But, of course! Ware has been giving me the fall chills since In A Dark, Dark Wood, reading one of her deeply mysterious novels during this time of year has become habit. So then it was decided for me. Well, whoever was the decision-maker fell asleep on the job, most likely reading The Lying Game.

Isa, Kate, Thea, and Fatima become fast-friends at a wayward boarding school in the damp marshes of England, and in less than a year, are able to create a very unfortunate reputation for themselves; think Mean Girls Gone Bad. But not so bad that the story actually becomes interesting. Something sinister happened to Kate's father, Ambrose, during that time at school, and now - some decades later - their lying past is about to come back to haunt them.

The most glaring of discrepancies is that the actual Lying Game and its subsequent rules - tell a lie, stick to your story, don't get caught, never lie to each other, and know when to stop lying - are completely arbitrary, and more a lesson in how not to be a dick during your teen years because it could come back to bite you as an adult. Reminiscent of Ware's previous novels, none of The Lying Game's "participants" are at all likable, and these women come off as whiny and self-involved. This book is about 200-pages too long, extremely boring and over-dramatic, the ending is a total let-down, and the final line of the book makes absolutely no sense. This Ware book is a rare disappointment. ⭐/5 on goodreads.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE or find me on Instagram: @breannes_bargain_bookshelf